Tobacco sheet material and method of making same



1953 F. G. PEARCE 2,626.612

TOBACCO SHEET MATERIAL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Oct. 2, 1948 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 FIG.3

16 F| G SEPARATING CORTEX FROM FIBRO VASCULAR BUNDLE l FoRMlNG AClDlFIEDSLURRY FILM SEPARATING FQRMING CORTEX FROM FIBRO VASCULAR l BU'iDLESEPARA'HNG DRY TO DESIRED REMOVING MOISTURE CORTEX FROM MOISTURE FIBROVASCULAR CONTENT BUNDLE 34 l /32 36- SHREDDING .OR ROLLING 4 CUTTING ToSIZE QR q, PACKING FORMING Fl BE R T QSZGCO ACQUEOUS SLURRY F|G.5 22

FORMING SMOKING ,4

ARTICLE v FILM FORMING 26 REMOVING MOISTURE INVENTOR FRANK G. PEARCEATTORNEY Patented Jan. 27, 1953 TOBACCO SHEET MATERIAL AND METHOD OFMAKING SAME Frank G. Pearce, Tulsa, Okla., assignor to American Machine& Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 2,1948, Serial No. 52,537

Claims. l

This invention relates to novel smoking materials, the method ofproducing same, and to smoking articles made therefrom. It relates moreespecially to reconstituted tobacco sheet material or film made from aselected portion of the stems of tobacco, and methods of producing thesame.

It is well known that stems of tobacco are considered to be ofrelatively poor quality insofar as smoking characteristics areconcerned, and for that reason, large quantities are discarded annuallyand sold for use in making by-products.

Tobacco stems in general are made up of two parts: a center portion,which can be designated the fibro-vascular bundle, and an outer portiondesignated the cortex. The term cortex as used herein is defined inWebsters New International Dictionary of the English Language, SecondEdition, Unabridged, 1941 as: In vascular plants the portion of a stemor root external to the vascular tissue." The epidermis which is a thinlayer of cells forming the external integument of the stem is regardedas a part of the cortex for descriptive purposes in this application. Ihave found that although tobacco stems tend to burn with acridity, thisis not the case when the cortex alone is burned. It appears thereforethat the cortex contains desirable characteristics and propertiessimilar to those found in natural tobacco leaf. It can therefore besmoked or incorporated with the filler tobacco of smoking articles, Orformed into reconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material for use incigarettes, cigars and other smoking articles. I

My invention, therefore, contemplates the use of a selected portion oftobacco stems as an additive to smoking articles such as cigars,cigarettes, smoking tobacco and the like.

My invention also consists in the use of cortex, the outer covering oftobacco stems, as an additive to smoking tobacco articles.

My invention also consists in the formation of reconstituted tobaccocortex sheet material formed from the cortex of tobacco stems, and theincorporation thereof in smoking articles, such as cigarettes, cigarsand other smoking articles.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel reconstitutedtobac'co sheet material formed from cortex removed from the stems orheavy veins of tobacco.

My invention also consists in the provision of novel smoking articlessuch as cigars and cigarettes in which the filler contains a quantity ofnatural tobacco cortex.

My invention is also characterized by the pro- 2 vision of novel smokingarticles such as cigarettes and cigars. In cigarettes, shreddedreconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material is used. In cigars, piecesof reconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material are used. The quantity ofsuch material employed in cigarettes and cigars will vary in accordancewith the blend specifications of a given manufacturer.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the followingdescription and drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof,it being understood that the above statement of the objects of myinvention is intended generally to explain the same without limiting itin any manner.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification,and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or likeparts:

Figure 1 is a microscopic view of the cross section of a tobacco stemshowing the cortex and flbro-vascular bundle;

Figure 2 is a schematic and diagrammatic illustration of a preferredmethod of carrying out my invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic and diagrammatic illustration of a modifiedmethod of carrying out my invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic and diagrammatic illustration of an additionalmodified method of carrying out my invention;

Figure 5 is a view showing a small piece of my novel cortexreconstituted sheet material;

. Figure 6 is a viewshowing a cigarette with part of the wrapper brokenaway to disclose the filler consisting of shredded cortex and shreddedtobacco;

Figure 7 is a view showing a cigarette, similar to Figure 6, in whichthe filler consists of shredded cigarette tobacco and shreddedreconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material;

Figure 8 is a View of a part of a cigar in which part is broken away todisclose the filler composed of filler tobacco and tobacco cortex; and

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 in which the binder is made ofreconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material and the filler is composedof filler tobacco and reconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material.

Referring to Figure 1, l0 designates the fibrovascular bundle found intobacco stems and veins which is made up of a plurality of relativelyhard,

fibrous tendon-like cellulose members closely secured together byfibrous vegetable connecting tissue. Surrounding the fibro-vascularbundle, is the cortex designated 12 which is formed of a relativelysponge-like vegetable tissue or covering constituting the larger portionof the stem and the portion which is closer in characteristics andproperties to the lamina of the tobacco leaf.

The tobacco cortex can be separated from the fibro-vascular bundlemanually or by suitable decorticating machinery. For the purposes of thepresent disclosure, a batch of stems, from which the cortex is to beremoved, can be moistened, which causes the cortex to soften and swell.The cortex is then removed manually as at 16, Figure 2. Following theremoval of the cortex, it is formed into an aqueous slurry, designatedat 18, in the same general manner as that set forth in Wells and SowaPatent 2,433,877, wherein the resulting slurry contains a substantialproportion of colloidal cortex particles dispersed therein. Theconversion of the tobacco cortex into an aqueous slurry can beaccomplished by using a suitable type of mill, such as a ball mill orcolloid mill. Any desired ratio of cortex to water can be used. It hasbeen found that'ratios of 1:8 to 1:14 give satisfactory results. Whenthe milling or slurry forming operation is completed, the slurry isdeposited in a film forming device 20 and applied in the form of acontinuous film or web 22 upon a suitable film forming surface. It ispreferred to use an endless belt 24, preferably one having asubstantially imperforate film forming surface, such that when theslurry is spread out in the form of web or film 22 thereon,substantially all soluble and insoluble constituents of the tobaccocortex will be retained in the final reconstituted tobacco sheet orfilm. Belt 24 carries the film 22, formed thereon, through a moistureremoving zone 26 of suitable conventional construction where excessmoisture is removed, whereupon the web or film 22, such as shown inFigure 5, is separated by blade 25 extending transversely across belt 24and is rolled in a reel R or cut into sheets or shredded by suitablewell known means (not shown) for use in the formation of cigarettes orcigars or other smoking articles.

In the modified method illustrated in Figure 3, the same general stepsare performed, i. e. the cortex I2 is separated from the fibro-vascularbundle and a small quantity of acid is added at 30. It is preferred touse phosphoric acid because this acid has the effect of making theproduct blander and also has some influence in regulating the rate ofburn of the resulting sheet or film 22. I have found that the optimumquantity ranges between 2% to 5%. Following the formation of theacidified slurry at 30, it is I passed through a film forming device 26which casts it upon belt 24, whereby the film 22 is carried throughmoisture removing zone 2% which removes excess moisture from thereconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material 22, after which the finishedfilm or web 22 is either rolled into reel R, or cut, shredded and packedas designated at 32.

Figure 4 discloses a modified method in which cortex is added in itsnatural state to filler tobacco and formed into smoking articles. Thefiller tobacco can be shredded cigarette tobacco, tobacco which is to beshredded, or cigar filler tobacco. The cortex is separated from thefibrovascular bundle at l6 and dried to desired moisture content in asuitable conventional type of moisture removing device 34. After thistreatment, cortex [2 is shredded or cut to size depending on itsultimate use. If it is to be added to 'a shredded cigarette blend, itcan either be shredded first as at 36 and added to the blend at 38, oradded to the blend and shredded subsequently. The blended shreddedcigarette tobacco containing shredded cortex [2 is then formed in knownmanner, designated to, into smoking articles such as cigarettes. Cortexcan also be added in desired amounts to cigar filler tobacco. The cortexused in this case can be removed from any desired source such asordinary filler tobacco stems and veins or special types of blendingtobacco such as Havana.

Figure 6 discloses a cigarette in which the conventional paper wrapper42 encloses the filler consisting of shredded cigarette tobacco 44 andshredded natural tobacco cortex 45 in any desired proportions, dependingupon the requirements of a manufacturers blend and types of tobaccosused therein.

Figure 7 discloses a cigarette in which the conventional wrapper 42encloses a filler consisting of shredded cigarette tobacco 48 andshredded reconstituted tobacco cortex film material or preformedreconstituted tobacco cortex filaments 50 in any desired proportion. Ifthe tobacco cortex filament material is formed initially as filaments,it can be produced in a manner and by means similar to that disclosed inWells and Sowa Patent 2,433,877, above referred to. It is evident thatthe shredded tobacco cortex sheet material can be made from differenttypes of tobacco in order that desired results can be obtained. Forexample, it can be made from the cortex taken from the stems and veinsof relatively expensive tobaccos such as Samsoun and Latakia. It canalso be formed of Burley stems or the stems of one or more well knowntypes of cigarette tobacco. The quantity and type of cortex sheetmaterial used will vary with a given manufacturer's blend.

Figure 8 shows a cigar having a tobacco leaf wrapper 52, binder 54 andfiller designated generally 56. The natural tobacco filler which isdesignated 58, can be either long or short filler depending upon thetype of cigar. The filler also contains a quantity of tobacco cortextil, the size of the pieces of which will also vary in accordance withWhether it is mixed with long or short filler tobacco 58. The tobaccocortex can be separated from the stems and large veins of a blendingtobacco such as Havana, or can be obtained from the stems and largeveins of well known types of domestic cigar filler tobacco.

In the cigar shown in Figure 9, the wrapper is designated as 52. Thiscigar has a binder 62, preferably formed of reconstituted tobacco cortexsheet material. The binder encloses a cigar filler tobacco designatedgenerally 56 which consists of long or short fillertobacco 58, dependingupon the type of cigar, and pieces of reconstituted tobacco cortex sheetmaterial 64 mixed with the filler tobacco 58 in proper proportiondepending upon the manufacturers blend. If desired, instead of a binderformed from reconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material 62, aconventional type of natural tobacco leaf binder, such as leaf binder 54of Figure 8, can be used. So also in the cigar of Figure 9, the fillertobacco can be composed entirely of natural leaf tobacco 58.

The invention above described may be varied in construction within thescope of the claims, for the particular embodiments selected toillustrate the invention are but a few of the possible concrete formswhich my invention may assume. The invention, therefore, is not to berestricted to the precise details of the structures shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of forming continuous, self-supporting reconstitutedtobacco cortex films or sheets which comprises removing the cortex fromthe stems and veins of tobacco, forming an aqueous slurry from saidcortex, forming said cortex slurry into a continuous thin web, andremoving moisture from said web.

2. The method of forming continuous, selfsupporting reconstitutedtobacco cortex films or sheets which comprises removing the cortex fromthe stems and veins of tobacco, forming an aqueous slurry from saidcortex, adding a small quantity of acid to said slurry, forming saidcortex slurry into a continuous thin web, and removing moisture fromsaid web.

3. The method of forming continuous, selfsupporting reconstitutedtobacco cortex films or sheets which comprises removing the cortex fromthe stems and veins of tobacco, forming an aqueous slurry from saidcortex, adding from 2% to 5% of phosphoric acid to said slurry, formingsaid cortex slurry into a continuous thin web, and removing moisturefrom said web.

4. Reconstituted tobacco cortex sheet material comprising solely naturaltobacco stem and tobacco vein cortex, said cortex consisting of theouter covering of tobacco stems and tobacco veins, formed into aself-supporting sheet containing finely divided and colloidal cortexparticles held 6 together by the self-glutinating efi'ect of theparticles of cortex.

5. As a new article of manufacture, continuous and self-supportingtobacco cortex sheet material comprising hydrated finely divided andcolloidal particles of natural tobacco cortex only bound together by thenatural cohesive attraction of said hydrated particles.

FRANK G. PEARCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

